Amir Sjarifuddin

Amir Sjarifuddin Harahap, also spelled Amir Sjarifoeddin Harahap (27 April 1907 – 19 December 1948) was a socialist politician and one of the Indonesian Republic's first leaders, becoming Prime Minister during the country's National Revolution.[1] A Christian convert from a MuslimBatak family, Amir was a major leader of the Left during the Revolution. He was executed in 1948 by Indonesian Republican officers following his involvement in a Communist revolt.

Dutch East Indies and Japanese Occupation

In the early 1930s, Amir was active in literary and journalist circles, joining the editorial board of the newspaper Panorama, together with Liem Koen Hian, Sanusi Pane and Mohammad Yamin.[2][3] In mid-1936, together with his colleagues Liem, Pane and Yamin, Amir started another newspaper, Kebangoenan (1936–1941), which—as with Panorama—was published by Phoa Liong Gie's Siang Po Printing Press.[2]

In 1937, towards the end of the Dutch period, Amir led a group of younger Marxists in the establishment of Gerindo ('Indonesian People's Movement'), a radical co-operating party opposed to international fascism as its primary enemy.[4] The Soviet Union’s Dmitrov doctrine had called for a common front against fascism which helped swell the number of Indonesians taking a cooperative approach with regards to the Dutch colonial administration in an attempt to secure Indonesian independence. Gerindo was one of the more significant cooperative parties in the years leading to World War II whose objectives included a fully Indonesian legislature; It had modest goals in comparison to the Dutch-suppressed radical nationalists led by the likes of Sukarno and Hatta, who Sjarifuddin had met before the War.[5] By 1940, Dutch intelligence suspected him of being involved with the Communist underground.

Having watched the increased strength and influence of Imperial Japan, Amir was one of a number of Indonesian leaders who warned against the danger of fascism before the war.[1] Prior to the Netherlands' invasion by Japan's ally Germany, the Netherlands Indies was a major exporter of raw materials to East Asia and to this end, Amir's groups had promoted boycotts against Japan. It is thought that his prominent role in these campaigns prompted the head of Dutch intelligence to provide Amir with 25,000 guilders in March 1942 to organise an underground resistance movement against Japan through his Marxist and nationalist connections. At this point, the Dutch colonial administration was crumbling against the Japanese onslaught and the top Dutch military fled Indonesia for Australia.[6]

Upon their occupation of Indonesia, the Japanese enforced total suppression of any opposition to their rule. Most Indonesian leaders obliged either by becoming 'neutral observers' or by actively cooperating. Sjarifuddin was the only prominent Indonesian politician next to Sutan Sjahrir to organize active resistance. The Japanese arrested Sjarifuddin in 1943 and he escaped execution only due to intervention from Sukarno, whose popularity in Indonesia - and hence importance to the war effort - was recognised by the Japanese.[7]

Indonesian National Revolution

As a cabinet minister, and later prime minister, Amir aligned himself with the generally older group of political leaders who, in establishing Indonesian independence, emphasised the need for diplomacy and the formation of sound political structures. This group struggle contrasted with the alternative and generally younger alternative political leadership advocating struggle; the vying for influence between these two groups was a defining feature of the Indonesian National Revolution.[8]

Partai Sosialis

In 1945, he was the most widely known and respected Republican politician to consider himself communist.[9] Although Amir had been in contact with the 'illegal' Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), he had nothing but disdain for the 'unsophisticated' and unknown Marxists who re-established it in 1935.[9] His closest colleagues from the 'illegal PKI' underground or the pre-war Gerindo formed the Partai Sosialis Indonesia (PARSI) on 1 November 1945. The same month, Amir followers formed PESINDO (Pemuda Sosialis Indonesia, "Indonesian Socialist Youth").[10]

At a two-party conference on 16–17 December it was announced that Amir's PARSI would merge with Sjahrir's political grouping, PARAS, forming the Partai Sosialis (PS).[9] The Partai Sosialis quickly became the strongest pro-government party, especially in Yogyakarta and East Java. The party accepted the argument of Amir and its other leaders that the time was not ripe to implement socialism, rather that international support necessary for independence be sought, and that unruly constituents had to be opposed. The party's westernised leaders showed more faith in Netherlands left-wing forces, than in the revolutionary fervour of the Indonesian people, which became a source of discontent among the party's opponents.[9]

Cabinet minister

Information Minister

Following the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945 and the proclamation of Indonesian independence two days later, the Republic announced its first ministry on 4 September. The seventeen-member cabinet was composed mostly of 'collaborating' nationalists;[11] Amir, appointed as Information Minister, was however, still imprisoned by the Japanese following his 1942-43 anti-Japanese underground activities.[12] Early in the Revolution, Amir worked closely with the first Prime Minister and Sukarno's rival, Sutan Sjahrir; the two played the major role in shaping the arrangements linking the new government of Indonesia with its people remarkably effectively.[13]

On 30 October Amir, along with Sukarno and Hatta, was flown into the East Java city of Surabaya by the desperate British caretaker administration. The three were seen as the only Indonesian leaders likely able to quell fighting between Republican and British Indian forces in which the British Brigade were hopelessly outnumbered and facing annihilation. A ceasefire was immediately adhered to, but fighting soon recommenced after confused communications and mistrust between the two sides, leading to the famed Battle of Surabaya.[14]

Minister for Defence

On 16 October 1945, Sjahrir and Amir engineered a takeover within the KNIP.[10] and following 11 November transition to parliamentary government, Amir is appointed to a new cabinet with Sjahrir as Prime Minister.[15] Described as 'a man even his political adversaries found difficult to hate',[16] he played a key role as Minister of Defence. His position, however, was a source of friction with the TKR and its new commander, Sudirman, who had nominated their own candidate, the Sultan of Yogyakarta, Hamengkubuwono IX. (The Sultan, however, was not eager to contest the position). Amir was a central figure in the government's 'anti-fascist' programme with the army a key target, which caused further frictions. Sjahrir attacked PETA-trained army officers as 'traitors', 'fascists', and 'running dogs' who had cooperated with the Japanese. Amir promoted the Red Army as a model of a citizens' army loyal to the government and holding socialist ideals. On 19 February 1946, Amir inaugurated a socialist and Masyumi politician-dominated 'education staff' for the army. The body appointed fifty-five 'political officers' at the end of May without consulting the army command. These new officers were to educate each TRI unit in the goals of the revolution.[17] He was not, however, able to effectively impose such ideals on unit commanders, particularly as Sudirman and other PETA-trained resented the 'fascist' slur cast on them.[18] The Marxist's overtones of Amir's new military academies conflicted with the popular army view of being above politics and the need to play a unifying role in the national struggle; the army leadership consequently rejected attempts to introduce partisan ideology and alignments.[18]

This antagonism between the government and PETA-trained officers, forced Amir to find an armed support base elsewhere. He aligned himself with sympathetic Dutch-educated officers in certain divisions, such as the West Java'Siliwangi' Division the command of which had been assumed by KNIL Lieutenant A.H. Nasution in May 1946.[18] Another source of support for the new cabinet was the more educated armed pemuda sympathetic to the cabinet's 'anti-fascist' approach. With an engaging personality and persuasive oratory skills, Amir had more time and aptitude than Sjahrir for party building, and he played the main part in wooing these pemuda.[18]

Prime Ministership

A split between Amir's and Prime Minister Sjahrir's supporters rapidly deepened in 1947. There had long been mutual suspicion between Sjahrir and the communists who had returned from the Netherlands in 1946; the fading of the 'anti-fascist' cause made these suspicions more obvious. Sjahrir's preoccupation with diplomasi, his physical isolation in Jakarta from revolution-infused Central Java, and is dislike of mass rallies allowed the more Moscow-inclined Marxists to assume more control in both the PS and Sayap Kiri. By June 1946, Sjahrir's increasing isolation from the coalition encouraged the opposing factions to depose him. This group put their support behind Amir, the alternative PS leader. On 26 June 1947, Amir, along with two other Moscow-inclined Ministers—Abdulmadjid (PS) and Wikana (PESINDO)— backed by a majority of Sayap Kiri withdrew their support for Sjahrir. Their argument was that Sjahrir had compromised the Republic in his pursuit of diplomasi—the same charge that deposed every revolutionary government—and that in the face of Dutch belligerence, such conciliation seemed futile.

Amir courted a broad coalition but hostility from Muslim Masyumi prevented its leader, Dr Sukiman, and pro-Sjahrir 'religious socialists' from previous cabinets from joining the new cabinet. In July, Amir was appointed Prime Minister of the Republic.[10] Other influential Masyumi factions, such as that of Wondoamiseno, provided support. Although Amir's communist allies controlled about 10% of the thirty-four with Amir's Defence Ministry their sole key one, this cabinet was the highest point of orthodox communist influence in the Revolution.[19] Amir succeeded Sutan Sjahrir as Prime Minister[8]

Following a backlash over the Renville Agreement, a disaster for the Republic for which Amir received much of the blame, PNI and Masyumi cabinet members resigned in early January 1948. On 23 January, with his support base disappearing, Amir resigned from the prime ministership. President Sukarno subsequently appointed Hatta to head an emergency 'presidential cabinet' directly responsible to the President and not the KNIP. The new cabinet consisted mainly of PNI, Masyumi and non-party members; Amir and the "Left Wing" are subsequently in opposition.[10]

The "Left Wing" coalition renames itself the "People's Democratic Front" (Front Demokrasi Rakyat) and denounces the "Renville Agreement", which Amir's government had itself negotiated.[10] In August 1948, Musso, the 1920s leader of the PKI, arrived in Yogyakarta from the Soviet Union. Amir and the leadership of the People’s Democratic Front immediately accept his authority, and Amir admitted membership of the underground PKI since 1935. Adhering to Musso's Stalinist thinking of a single party of the working class, the major leftist parties in the Front dissolve themselves into the PKI.[10]

Following industrial action, demonstrations, and subsequent open warfare between PKI and pro-government forces in the Central Java city of Surakarta, on 18 September a group of PKI supporters took over strategic points in the Madiun area. They killed pro-government officers, and announced over radio the formation of a new "National Front" government. Caught off guard by the premature coup attempt, Musso, Amir and other PKI leaders travel to Madiun to take charge.[10] The following day, about 200 pro-PKI and other leftist leaders remaining in Yogyakarta were arrested. Sukarno denounced the Madiun rebels over radio, and called upon Indonesians to rally to himself and Hatta rather than to Musso and his plans for a Soviet-style government. Musso replied on radio that he will fight to the finish, while, the People's Democratic Front in Banten and Sumatra announced they had nothing to do with the rebellion.[10]

In the following weeks, pro-government forces, led by the Siliwangi Division, march on Madiun where there was an estimated 5,000-10,000 pro-PKI soldiers. As the rebels retreated they killed Masyumi and PNI leaders and officials, and in the villages killings took place along santri-abangan lines. On 30 September, the rebels abandoned Madiun town, and were pursued by pro-government troops through the countryside. Musso is killed on 31 October trying to escape custody.[10]

Amir and 300 rebel soldiers were captured by Siliwangi troops on 1 December. Some 35,000 people were later arrested. It is thought perhaps 8,000 people were killed in the affair. As part of a second major military offensive against the Republic, on 19 December Dutch troops occupied Yogyakarta city and the Republican government was captured, including Sukarno, Hatta, Agus Salim, and Sjahrir. Republican forces withdraw to the countryside beginning full-scale guerrilla war on either side of the van Mook line. Rather than risk their release, the army killed Amir and fifty other leftist prisoners as it withdrew from Yogyakarta that evening.[10]

^Most Indonesian nationalist leaders saw the Japanese Occupation of Indonesia as an opportunity to take advantage of in their pursuit of independence. Their consequent cooperation with the Japanese saw the returning Dutch brand them 'collaborators', and thus illegitimate leaders, in an attempt to undermine support for the newly proclaimed Republic.

^President Sukarno accepted a proposal for cabinet to answer to the Central Indonesian National Committee (KNIP) acting as Parliament rather than to the President. This watershed event ushered in the so-called 'liberal' or parliamentary form of government, which prevailed against the Sukarnoist-proposed constitution for twelve years. Leadership was thus handed to a 'modernizing' Western-minded intellectual, who at the time were thought to be the coming leaders of Asia and more palatable to Western ideas of government. When considered against previous forms of government—indigenous Indonesian, Dutch, Japanese and even the first brief Republican government—this was the most revolutionary political change at a national level during the 1945-50 Revolution. (Reid (1973), page 17)

The Cabinet of the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Kabinet Republik Indonesia) is part of the executive branch of the Indonesian government. It is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the government serving under the President. Members of the Cabinet (except for the Vice President) serve at the pleasure of the President, who can dismiss them at will for no cause.

Indonesia has seen dozens of cabinets since independence in 1945. Although after the New Order most cabinets remained unchanged for five years at a time. Most cabinets are referred to by the names given them at the time of formation. The current presidential cabinet is the Working Cabinet of Joko Widodo.

The First Hatta Cabinet (Indonesian: Kabinet Hatta I), also known as the Presidential Cabinet, was Indonesia's seventh cabinet. It was formed by Vice President Mohammad Hatta, who was instructed to do so by President Sukarno on 23 January 1948, the same day the previous cabinet was declared dissolved. Following the second Dutch military aggression, when the republican capital of Yogyakarta was seized and most of the cabinet arrested, much of the cabinet was captured and sent into exile, although it was not formally disbanded. After the political leadership returned effective 13 July 1949 the cabinet continued its mandate until it was reshuffled on 4 August.

Ir. Herling Laoh (23 August 1902 – ?) was a former cabinet minister in several Indonesian cabinets. He received an Ingenieur degree (abbreviated as "Ir.", a Dutch type engineer's degree) in 1928 from Technische Hoogeschool te Bandoeng (Bandung Institute of Technology). After the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, Laoh joined the Indonesian National Party or Partai Nasional Indonesia and was appointed to several cabinets from 1946 to 1950:

Second Sjahrir Cabinet and Third Sjahrir Cabinet as Junior Minister of Public Works.

First Amir Sjarifuddin Cabinet as Junior Minister of Public Works and then as Minister of Public Works when Mohammad Enoch resigned.

Second Amir Sjarifuddin Cabinet as Minister of Public Works.

First Hatta Cabinet as Minister of Public Works replacing Djuanda Kartawidjaja.

Second Hatta Cabinet as Minister of Public Works and Minister of Transportation.

Republic of the United States of Indonesia Cabinet as Minister of Transportation, Power, and Public Works.In 1949, Laoh served as an advisor in the Indonesian delegation during negotiations with the Dutch that produced the Roem–van Roijen Agreement. In 1950s, Laoh started several business ventures including NV Birokarpi, N.V. Perintis, and N.V. Paka. Perintis and Paka were joint ventures with the government. The Port of Bitung was constructed by Birokarpi under the supervision of Laoh.

Johannes Leimena (6 March 1905 – 29 March 1977) was Deputy Prime Minister of Indonesia from 1957 to 1966 and served as Minister of Health under President Sukarno from 1946 to 1956. A Christian, he founded the Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo) in 1950. Following the 1965 coup attempt of the 30 September Movement and associated fall of Sukarno, he was the only politician who did not distance himself from the former head of state.

The Madiun Affair (Indonesian: Peristiwa Madiun), known locally as the Communist Party of Indonesia rebellion of 1948 (Indonesian: Pemberontakan Partai Komunis Indonesia 1948), was an armed conflict between the government of the Self-proclaimed Republic of Indonesia and the left-wing opposition group, Front Demokrasi Rakyat (FDR, People's Democratic Front) during the Indonesian National Revolution. The conflict began on 18 September 1948 in Madiun, East Java, and ended three months later when most FDR leaders and members were detained and executed by TNI forces.

Ong Eng Die (Chinese: 王永利; pinyin: Wáng Yǒnglì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ông íng-lī; born 20 June 1910), was a Chinese Indonesian politician and economist.Ong was born on 20 June 1910 in Gorontalo, Indonesia into the 'Cabang Atas' or the Chinese gentry of colonial Indonesia. His father, Ong Teng Hoen, served as Luitenant der Chinezen of Gorontalo, thus heading the local Chinese civil bureaucracy, from his appointment in 1924 until the Japanese invasion in 1942.His privileged background allowed him access to Dutch schooling. He later studied at the University of Amsterdam's economics department in 1940 and obtained his doctorate at the same university in 1943 upon completing his dissertation Chineezen in Nederlandsch-Indië, een Sociografie van een Indonesische Bevolkingsgroep.In 1946 he returned to Indonesia and started work at the Central Bank of Indonesia in Yogyakarta. From 1947 to 1948 he was Deputy Minister of Finance in the administration of the first Prime Minister Amir Sjarifuddin. He was adviser to the Indonesian delegation during the negotiations that led to the Renville Agreement. He joined the Indonesian National Party (PNI) and in 1955 became Minister of Finance in the Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet. After his resignation, he was placed under house arrest on charges of corruption in August 1955. He was arrested in 1957 on charges of corruption when he was Minister of Finance in the Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet. He was accused of providing credit, during his office, of 20,000,000 rupiah to Bank Umum Nasional in Bandung, a bank established by himself and others in 1952, in which he himself was a major shareholder.

He returned to Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1964. He and his German wife, Gertrud Wilhelmine Höhnerbach, were granted Dutch citizenship in 1967, when his occupation was listed as businessman. He and his wife continued to live in Amsterdam until their divorce in 1975, upon which he moved to The Hague. The couple had two sons.

People's Democratic Front (Indonesian: Front Demokrasi Rakjat, FDR) was a short-lived united front of leftists in Indonesia, founded in February 1948. FDR included the Communist Party of Indonesia, the Socialist Party, Labour Party of Indonesia, SOBSI and Pesindo. The leader of FDR was Amir Sjarifuddin.

Soerastri Karma Trimurti (11 May 1912 – 20 May 2008), who was known as S. K. Trimuti, was an Indonesian journalist, writer and teacher, who took part in the Indonesian independence movement against colonial rule by the Netherlands. She later served as Indonesia's first labor minister from 1947 until 1948 under Indonesian Prime Minister Amir Sjarifuddin.

The second Amir Sjarifuddin Cabinet (Indonesian: Kabinet Amir Sjarifuddin Kedua) was Indonesia's sixth cabinet and was the result of a reshuffle to allow for the entry of the Masyumi Party, which gained five posts. The cabinet lasted only two months and eleven days, from 12 November 1947 to 23 January 1948, after Masyumi withdrew its ministers in protest at the Renville Agreement the government signed with the Dutch.

The Socialist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian: Partai Sosialis Indonesia, Parsi) was a political party in Indonesia. It was founded at a meeting in Jogjakarta on 13 November 1945. The Defence Minister Amir Sjarifuddin was the chairman of the party. Parsi was largely made up by Amir Sjarifuddin's former colleagues from the wartime resistance struggle in East Java. Some of then originated in Gerindo ('Indonesian People's Movement'), a leftwing, nationalist and pro-Sukarno group active before the war. There were also some persons, like Abdulmadjid, Moewaladi and Tamzil, who had lived in the Netherlands during the war, and taken part in the anti-fascist resistance struggle there. The primary objective of Parsi was the independence of Indonesia from colonial rule, which was to be followed by the construction of a socialist society.In December 1945, at a meeting in Cheribon, the party merged with the Socialist People's Party (Paras), forming the Socialist Party with Amir Sjarifuddin as vice-chairman. However, even after the merger, the erstwhile Parsi and Paras groups continued to exist as factions inside in the new party. Generally speaking, the former Parsi members represented a more radical and populist line. In August 1948, when Sjahrir and his followers had left the Socialist Party, the Party issued a statement of self-criticism. The statement said that whilst Parsi had been founded by underground communists, it had not taken the shape of a communist party. Moreover, the statement lamented the merger with the 'rightwing' and 'reformist' Paras. Largely, the former Parsi members stayed were the ones who stayed in the Socialist Party whilst former Paras members left alongside Sjahrir. There were however some notable exceptions, like Wijono (who had been a Parsi militant, but ended up as one of the main leaders of Sjahrir's party).

The third Sjahrir Cabinet (Indonesian: Kabinet Sjahrir Ketiga) was the fourth Indonesian cabinet. It served from October 1946 to June 1947, when it fell due to disagreements related to implementation of the Linggadjati Agreement and subsequent negotiations with the Dutch.

Wikana (born 16 October 1914) was an Indonesian minister and independence leader. He was one of the youths who forced Sukarno and Hatta to declare independence immediately after the surrender of the Japanese. He was the first Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sport (although in his era the office was called Minister of State of Youth Affairs). He was a member of the Indonesian Communist Party. Sometime after the coup d'état attempt, he was arrested and went missing.

This page is based on a Wikipedia article written by authors
(here).
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.